Rim-removing apparatus



Sept. 9, 1924.

- G. A. MEYER RIM REMOVING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 51, 1922 Patented Sept. 9,l924.

UNITED- STATES GUSTAV} A. MEYER, DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

RIM-REMOVING APPARATUS.

- Application. filed August 81; 1922. Serial 170. 585,881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUs'rAvn A. MEYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michian, have invented a certainnew and useful m rovement in Rim-Removing Apparatus, an declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification. This invention relates to" apparatus for efiecting the centripetal release of a wheel rim from the inner face of a'tire, andhas for its object an improved organization of parts whereby this may be efieeted easily and without undue bending of the metal rim, even though it be rusted or frozen to the adjacent tire surface. In the'case of some tires and rims the use of a part only of the apparatus herein described is necess8. but in other instances, as, for example,

' as 1n the case of a very heavy rim, or where the adhesion between the tires and the rim is unusually tenacious, it sometimes becomes necessary'to supplement this withv the re maining portion of the apparatus that I have devised, working the parts in alternation.- In the drawings; Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my ap aratus in position about the rim of a ve icle wheelilready for the drawing apart action upon t e meeting ends Figure 2. is a plan view from above of the turnbuckle-actuatedportion of the app L- ratus in position with respect to a wheel rim, 0. portion of the latter being dotted in in prp per relative position, i 3 is an end elevationalview, taken at-right angles to the position shown in Figure 1, of the member shown in the upper and "central portions of Figure 1, x

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of one air of theclamping hooks designed .to

ring out the adjustability of the branches, to compensate for variations in the breadth and depth of the wheel rim.

A and B re resentthe'meeting ends of a metal wheel 11111, which in service are ordinarily firmly connected with one another by a screw or bolt attached to a cross-over piece C. "In numerousmakes of tires the ferred method of separating the rim from.

m the inner face of the tire, when repairs to either one become necessary, involves a centripetal drawing in or bending of the. I

rim relatively to the inner face of the tire, and often the rim and tirehave-become adherent to a degree that makes their 'separa-" tion a matter of great difiiculty, especially I the initial drawing out of line of their meeting ends after the cross-over piece Chas been detached. To eiiiciently deal with this I have devised the prying or leverage memher shown in side and end elevation in Figv ures 1 and 3 respectively consisting of a handle D, whose inner end terminates in a laterally projecting nose. or pair of bearing points F, whose tip is adapted to engage against the adjacent inner surface of the wheel rim as a fulcrum point, pressing outwardly against that portion as, B while the hook-tipped jaws G and H engage over the edges ofother rim end A; being adjustably joined, as at E, with the elbowconnecting the handle D and projections F, these jaws and their engaged rim end are drawn inwardly with great force when the handle I) .is swung strongly to the right, from the position shown in Figure 1. When this pull has resulted in-a slight or starting separation of the rim end A from the adjacent inner surface of the tire, the position of the detaching apparatus may be reversed so that the end of the nose F may engage against the inner face of the rim end A, while the jaws G andH engage over the edges of the rim end B. A swing of the lever D in the opposite direction from that just described now exercises a corresponding centripetal pull upon the rim end B, and this start at separation of t e rim surfaces from the inner face of the tire sometimes sufices.

If, however, the adhesion between the rubber and metal persists throughout a con siderable portion oftheir peripheral line of union, the additionaland co-operating use of the remaining portion of my apparatus becomes necessary. This latter consists of a turnbuckle J, preferably provided atits ends with flat wrench-hold surfaces 0, and in whose threaded ends engage the screws K' and L, to the outer end of each of which is pivotally linked, as at M, the inner or central stem portion of a pair of correlated jaw members of the same type as G and. H already described.

To provide for variations in the depth and breadth of difierent sizes and makes of wheel rims, one of the jaw members, as G, 1s made adjustable relatively to its companion jaw H, by being-screw-threaded at its lower end,

so that, as viewed in Figure 4, for example,v

the extent of its projection either upwardly or outwardly may be regilated by the use of the adjusting nut N. roject ing from one or both faces of the jaw member as a whole, in a plane located at ri ht an les to that in which the branches and lie, are a pair of leverage projections as P and Q. These latter are adapted, when the arms G and H are in position about the edge of a wheel rim, to lie with their ends against the surface thereof, and, as-brought out inv Figure 1, each of these pairs of jawmembers G and H being located at an appreciable distance on either side of the point of meeting of the rim ends, and each extending radially inward, when the turnbuckle J is actuated, the draw upon the jaw members G and H is not directly radial, butis such as to draw more heavily on the side at whichthe proections Pare located.

-. In practice it is sometimes best to start the loosening operation by first slightly expanding the rim so that its ends will be drawn away. from one another. This is accomplished by attaching the turnbuckleapparatus to spacedly separated points on each side of the break in the rim, as already described, and actuating the turnbuckle so that the screws Kand L are projected outwardly, thus pressing each set of jaw pieces against the rim and thus rocking them so that their lower projections Q are pressed against the rim surface, just as the projections P were,

when the pulling action of the turnbuckle above described was in progress. With the connected parts is then employed to bend one rim end, as A for example, inwardly with respect to the rim end B. The outward pressure of the turnbuckle and its connected jaw pieces is then terininated'by rotation of the turnbuckle in the opposite or inwardlydrawing direction, and further inward drawing of the rim ends by the lever piece D is indulged in. Then, if necessary, the turn buckle is further actuated so that its jaws will pull the now started rim ends as far apart as possible, after which the lever piece D is again brought into action if required.

What I claim is:

In combination with a pair of rim-engaging members, each having a fixed jaw and an obliquely adjustable jaw, whereby rims of varylng width and depth may be'rigidly engaged, said pairs of rim-engaging members being adapted to be temporarily aflixed about those portions of a rim selectively adjacent its meeting ends, means connecting the inner ends of said rim-engaging members for regulatably drawing them and their then connected portions of the seized rim inwardly to eflect the separation of the outer surface of the rim from the surrounding inner surface of a vehicle tire.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specifica'tion in the presence of two witnesses.

GUSTAVE A. MEYER. Witnesses: l

WnLIA 'M. SWAN, Jnrrneson G. Tnummn. 

